I refer to Maggie Cheung's letter 'Think again on student stress' (South China Morning Post, May 12) in which the Education Department and the Examination Authority were asked to take the feelings of students into account when considering the incorporation of course work into final results in the forthcoming review of the examination system.
I wish to inform your readers that the authority is solely responsible for the conduct of the two public examinations, HKCEE and HKALE.
The idea of incorporating school-based assessment into public examinations is to provide a more comprehensive assessment of the students so that their future will not hinge on a snapshot performance in the examination halls.
The authority recognises the inherent problems associated with this scheme and is therefore taking a prudent approach.
A panel of consultants has been commissioned to undertake a study with a view to identifying the most appropriate manner of achieving the goal of incorporating school-based assessment into public examinations.
The authority has the students' best interests very much at heart. This very important issue will be carefully and sensibly tackled.
